Susan: That is too funny! I was in the ash fall of 1980 in Coeur d' Alene Idaho....what a mess! We had a tleast 3" everywhere and it was pitch black in the middle of the afternoon....pretty spooky. I too was glad to be home to deal with it.

OH LOOK !! the moon is full tonight and its just coming up over the horiozn...look how pr...... OH CR P!!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I have had the unfortunate “pleasure” of being in several urban chaos situations. The latest was this hurricane season. I was in both New Orleans and Miami, but I was also at Kent State during the shooting, in Chicago during the 60 riots, in Tampa during the build-up for the invasion of Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis, in Montgomery Alabama during some race difficulties and quite a number of lesser events like local small riots, power outages, blizzards, heat waves and such. OK, I am an old duffer, but I have an interesting life.

Consistently the most important need was for RELIABLE information. There are always rumors about what is happening and folks on the street will repeat speculation as fact.

Should we run or stay put? If run, where? Which route is safe? If stay put, how long? What will we need and how long will we need it? Who are the hostiles? What are they doing? Where are the friendlies? Information becomes the basis for all subsequent actions.

So, over the years we have learned that the most important “don't leave home without it” is a ham walkie talkie. These are very specialized radios. Gloria (KD5TOW) carries a very small low powered transceiver with extended transmit and receive capabilities. Gloria wants the smallest lightest radio that meets her most important needs. More on that later. Mine (Ron, N1AHH) is similar, but with higher power and more battery options.

Both of these radios will receive on almost any commonly used communication frequency. TV, Standard broadcast (AM/FM), public service, weather, CB, FRS, GMRS etc. Really everything that is not digital (except of course analog cell which is both illegal to monitor and not very useful anyway).

The point is, we have the ability to seek out information and we can communicate with each other under almost any circumstance. The reliable range between us is about a mile, but most of the time it is much more. If we are near repeaters, (devices which repeat our transmissions) we can be hundreds of miles apart. Using special systems like Echolink we can communicate from virtually anywhere to anywhere.

But it is not that simple. During the past year, we have spent significant time in Tampa, Sacramento, Austin, Houston, New Orleans, Miami, Remote sites in the High Sierra mountains, The high desert of central California and many one or two day stops in small towns, cities and remote areas. Keeping on top of the communications scene in such varied areas is complex and requires a diligent effort.

This post is long enough. I will, in the next several weeks, post about the equipment we use, the techniques we apply and the attitude we maintain. Because it will be ham radio specific and appeal to a subset of the group members, I will post the remainder in the campfire. Look for <ham radio> in the subject line.

Nomad you need a new travel agent!

during every storm florida happen to magnitize/ wilma being the bad one at least where power loss is concerned/ buggin out the preferred method of dealing with a crisis was ok/ coleman grills keeping kids entertained and smirking at the gas lines of the people who were nay sayers "we dont need petrol now" testing new headlamps at night overall a good test of your will and prepare

Quite some years ago, I saw something on TV where they found lots of old photos that all had the same guy in them, spanning at least a hundred years.

I guess it must have been Nomad! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Nomad - I think it best to tell all where you are located so we can stay move far away from you! You seem to attract all sorts of calamities.

Although if you want to practice what you preach, you might want to follow him around.

Thanks for sharing.

Ready

Living in the Keys means living with hurricanes. This is the specific and most likely scenario I prepare for. Such preps do carry over to covering other threats. In the past I have bugged out, sent my family on bug out and stayed solo, and have had the family in total bug in.

The key (as has been said before) is information and the wisdom and ability to act quickly and decisively. If we are bugging out we go NOW. Last season we were hit with 4 storms, on 3 of them it was ?send out the family? while I stayed. During one, the girls left 4 days in advance due to the storm slowing down and then they stayed for a couple of days after. We are fortunate to have my MIL in cent Fl. as a BO location. I am diligent about having cash on hand for these events. Giving my wife an envelope with a couple grand to travel with goes a long way toward getting them to leave without argument.

My parents and brother live in Houston, so during Rita last year I encouraged early evac. Of course they didn?t, got caught in traffic and turned around. Fortunately, Rita was a nonevent for them. Unfortunately, to them, this validates their lack of preparedness. <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Due to geography, ie. living 80 miles from the mainland with 1 road out, then reaching a major metro area, precludes my bugging out should an event occur without warning. However, mitigating factors such as easy food procurement (fishing), mild climate, and the curiously individualistic mindset of the long time locals makes this a secure place to live (not to mention we can blow the bridges to keep the MZB?s out) <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Bottom line - plan, gather intel, react.

Scott

Regarding volcanic ash clogging the air filter...I have heard that some people wrapped their filters in ladies hosiery (panty hose, knee highs, whatever) as kind of a prefilter and that helped to somewhat alleviate that problem. Anyone actually tried this? How did it work?

Well, I guess that is why I have this Electronic Bell tied around my neck. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />